Bond and Conquer
by Naruto-fan-Okami-chan
Summary: With my original goals accomplished, now I just need to make my final dream a reality. -SasuSaku- -Sasuke's POV- "How can you hate the one you love?" Summary kinda sucks, but I think the story itself should please you!
1. The Returning

**Bond and Conquer**

**Chapter One- The Returning**

Prologue:

I walked down the dirt path at my own leisurely rate. I looked like any normal civilian except for the katana and sheath that hung off my side. I slowly came into view of two towering gates just up ahead. I picked up my pace slightly. I really wanted a break after my long journey all this way.

I approached the gates, and was understandably stopped by two ninja.

"Identify yourself," one of them commanded.

I looked up at the two ninja who stood before me. I blinked, and they seemed to be taken back in surprise.

"I am…Sasuke Uchiha."

'"'"'"'"

Now I sat in an office, the office of Lady Tsunade, the fifth Hokage. She eyed me skeptically, as if believing I was about to attack. She paid close attention to my hand that could reach for my blade.

"Sasuke…Uchiha." She stated. "What in the world has brought you, a traitor to the Hidden Leaf Village, back to your roots?"

"I return simply because I have gained the power I need, killed Orochimaru, achieved my goal of revenge, and…" I stopped as I considered my next words. "I have a new task I wish to accomplish."

"So you want to return to Konoha as if you've done nothing wrong?" Tsunade asked me harshly.

I shrugged my shoulders, "I'm aware that what I've done over the past few years isn't exactly something anyone here is proud of…but I think you should give me a chance."

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't just have you arrested and shipped off somewhere."

"Because…I took out two of your biggest possible threats at the moment, Orochimaru and my brother, whom was a part of the Akatsuki." I answered.

Tsunade stared me down as she assessed the situation I put her in.

"So why return here? Why not just join up with some other village?" Tsunade questioned.

"After successfully killing Orochimaru and my brother, the Hidden Leaf Village was the first place I thought of. Besides…the new task I wish to accomplish can only be done here."

"Would you like to clarify what this new task of yours is?"

"No, for now I'd like to keep that to myself." I replied.

Tsunade's face hardened at my answer. "Does it involve any plots against the village? For all I know, Orochimaru is still alive and you're acting as a spy."

I raised my hand in a sign of peace. "I have no intention of doing any harm to this village. What I seek is merely a detail in my dream that is yet to be accomplished."

A flash of understanding crossed Tsunade's face and she smirked. "I'll have to have a council with the elders on what your punishment will be for abandoning us. For now, though, you have my permission to walk amongst the villagers and reacquaint yourself."

I inclined my head to tell her I understood, and then stood to exit the room.

"Oh, Sasuke," Tsunade called.

I glanced back at her to say I was listening.

"Keep in mind that while you may walk a free man through this village at the moment, you will still be interrogated for information concerning these past few years. I'd get my story straight if I were you." Tsunade explained.

"Yeah, sure," I replied.

"Also…you may want to catch up with your old team. You'd be surprised how much they've grown."

I stood silent as I thought of my two old friends. The hyper-active, loud-mouthed blonde, and the annoying pink-haired fan girl; I thought how interesting it'd be to see if they still fit those descriptions I left them with.

"Hn," I grunted, and left the office.

'"'"'"'"

Once I was outside, I finally looked at the village. It hadn't changed much since I left it…now about five years ago when I thought about it.

I decided the best thing for me to do at the time was find a place to stay. I didn't have much money on me, and that gave me an even better reason to find one of my old friends. I walked down the streets casually as I looked for any signs of a ruckus being caused by a loud mouthed blonde, or the unmistakable tint in the crowd of pink hair. I failed in finding either, and finally settled for going to the old training grounds.

The scene at the training grounds was undoubtedly the last thing I expected to find. The fields were a mess with upturned stones and knocked over or severely dented trees.

"Did a bomb go off here or something?" I whispered.

"Hya!" I heard the cry to the left.

Rock and debris flew in every direction, and as the dust cleared, I laid eyes on quite a sight. There, standing in the middle of the ruble, with her fist still aimed at the ground, was Sakura. Her hair remained that shoulder length I remember seeing her with last time, but it looked a little more unkempt than it used to be. She had definitely grown in both strength and body. Even I found myself looking her up and down twice or three times. It took me a couple more looks to even decide if that was really Sakura and not someone else, but it was her.

Sakura's head flicked to my direction, "I can sense your chakra. Come out."

Silently cursing at how much her ability had grown, I jumped down from the tree. I half expected her to gasp, ask if it was really me, and then throw her arms around me in a bout of joy, but she held her ground as I came into view.

"Sasuke Uchiha," she declared harshly, "what the hell are you doing in the Leaf Village?"

"If you think I'm up to no good, you're wrong." I responded curtly. "I've come to settle back in to my old life here in Konoha."

I saw her relax slightly, as if she was lowering her guard knowing that she was safe.

"What made you suddenly change your mind?" She questioned.

"Can I explain this with Naruto around? I don't want to bother saying everything three times."

Sakura huffed, and kept quiet for a while.

"So why're you here right now?" She asked sharply.

"I just wanted to see the old training grounds."

"Not a lot to see here at the moment." Sakura half chuckled.

I watched her skeptically until she finally asked me what I was staring at. "You're…different now." I stated.

"Yeah, I'm a Jonin, I'm probably going to be enlisted as an Anbu soon, I have medical skills that rival the fifth Hokage's, and the strength and knowledge to back everything up. Not feeling so superior now, are you?" She smirked at her last statement.

I snorted. "So are you making the assumption that you're stronger than me now; me who has been gone for five years training endlessly?"

Sakura gave me a taunting look, "Maybe," that finally sent me over the edge. I was behind her in a flash, my katana unsheathed and placed to her neck.

"What were you saying?" I whispered in her ear.

"Hm," she gave me a light smile before she disappeared into cherry blossoms.

I activated my Sharingan, glad to play her little game. She rushed at me from the side with a kunai which I easily blocked and pushed her back. She created a clone of herself to attack from the other side. I swiped my blade around and struck them both which turned out to be clones.

"Where'd you go?" I called. "Don't plan on sending these pathetic clones after me the whole time, do you?"

I heard a small crack from beneath my feet, and leaped just in time to dodge her hand grabbing at me from the ground.

I landed neatly a couple meters away. "I wouldn't use anything Kakashi has on me. I already know them all."

"Fine," her voice replied from behind.

I whipped around and managed to catch the fist she directed at me. I was stunned by the force that was inside of it. My back hit something, and I turned to find a tree.

"_There wasn't a tree nearby," _I thought.

The limbs suddenly extended and wrapped me in their firm grasp. Sakura appeared from above with a kunai in hand.

I closed my eyes, concentrating, and leaped to the side. I skidded halt a couple feet away, the tree gone.

"Someone's been brushing up on their genjutsu." I commented.

"Well, I obviously didn't just sit around while you and Naruto went on your ways training." Sakura replied as she came into my view again.

"Yeah, how's Naruto doing?" I asked.

"He's on a mission, but I'm sure he'll be glad to punch you once he sees you're here."

"Hmph," I chuckled.

I decided to take the offensive now, curious to see the extent of her abilities. I ran at her with a frontal attack. She flipped over me and quickly struck back with her fists. I twisted to avoid her and managed to catch her in the side with a kick. She retreated from me and giggled.

"Nice job, Uchiha." She complemented.

I shuddered a little at the name "Uchiha". The way it fell from her mouth with almost no emotion.

Sakura was over by me again in an instant. Caught slightly off guard, she just managed to clip my shoulder. I flinched as the extent of the impact sunk in.

"You've really got some power behind those fists." I stated.

"Well I thought that was obvious seeing the condition of this battlefield."

"Hn," I smirked.

I started to run at Sakura again. At the last second, I turned off course and appeared behind her with my katana. I lashed out, but she caught my position a second earlier and twirled out of the way.

"Close one, Uchiha."

I stood up straight, sheathed my katana, and drew in a large breath. I was tired.

"Oh, you want to quit already?" Sakura asked with an edge of disappointment in her voice.

"I've been traveling all day. I was tired to begin with." I sighed.

Sakura scanned over my body, seeming to finally notice all the dirt and sweat that covered my body and clothes.

"You want to come to my house and rest for a while?" She offered.

"Hn, sure," I answered.

Sakura smiled. "Then let's go. It's going to rain soon, anyway."

'"'"'"'"

We reached Sakura's house about fifteen minutes later. It was an apartment filled to the brim with papers and bookshelves. I almost believed it was a storage room rather than a home.

I sat on a couch in what I could only assume was a living room. Sakura came over with two cups of tea and sat next to me. We drank in silence for a couple minutes.

"So you moved out of your parent's house?" I inquired.

Sakura's face grew grim at this, but she quickly turned to me and gave me a smile. "I guess you could say that."

I eyed her skeptically. "Did something happen?"

Sakura remained silent, her grip on her cup tightened to the extent I feared it would shatter in her hand.

"Sakura," I tried to say in a soothing tone, "did something happen to your parents while I was gone?"

"They never came back." She spoke so quickly I could barely understand.

"What?" I asked.

"They never came back from their mission. They left me alone when I was sixteen."

"So…they died on a mission?"

"No…they were taken prisoner…and never given back." Sakura almost choked out. "We received word from an Anbu two months later that two bodies were found on the border. They had been tortured to death…and once they were dead…their remains were burned…. We almost…couldn't tell it was them."

I was about to say something to calm her, but at that moment, the cup in her hand burst into shards and flew in every direction. I jumped up in my surprise. Sakura stayed where she was, now looking at her marred hand which dripped with blood.

Hesitating for a moment because I wanted to help her, I ran into the kitchen and retrieved a towel for the mess. When I came back to the living room, Sakura had her uninjured hand over her wound. A green chakra was coming from it. I stared in wonder for a moment until she removed her hand to reveal the cuts were completely healed.

"You really weren't kidding about the medical stuff." I stated.

Sakura looked over at me. "Of course not."

There was a bit of an awkward silence afterwards until I finally remembered the towel in my hand. I held it out to her, she looked at it for a moment, and she took it.

"Thanks, Sasuke." She smiled.

I smirked inwardly to hear her call me Sasuke again. She bent over to clean up the mess the tea made, and I found myself unable to resist just watching her.

Sakura eventually noticed my gaze and she blushed a little. "W-what?" She asked.

I shook my head, "Nothing."

A knock was suddenly heard. Sakura walked to the door and opened it to see an Anbu.

"Lady Haruno," the Anbu bowed his head.

"Yes, what can I do for you?" She asked politely.

"Lady Hokage is requesting your presence." The Anbu looked over at me. "She also requested your presence, Uchiha."

"We'll be right over." Sakura replied, and closed the door when the Anbu jumped off.

Sakura looked over at me. I could see her slight confusion at the request of both of us.

"You're probably getting a mission." I stated. "As for me…it's probably judgment time."

**There ya go! Man, this chapter is so long it almost seems like a oneshot. There's a lot more to come, though. Hope I did well on this! I spent like, three days writing this, and I hope it's enough to make people want to read more. Of course, I think I already left enough questions for the time. Mission or something else, how's Sasuke's judgment going to go, will he get to be a Leaf ninja again? Well, that'll all be answered next chapter, trust me, but then I'll be leaving you with different questions. Anyway, review, read some more stuff, run in circles screaming some random thing. (Thinking of more things that start with "R"….) **

**Oh yeah, this story is for those people who voted on my poll asking for romance or adventure. Well I rolled them into one! Hope you liked it! **


	2. Status and Objective

**Chapter Two- Status and Objective**

Sakura and I arrived at the Hokage's office twenty minutes later. Lady Tsunade stared us down as we entered, and for a moment I almost feared she was about to tell me I was being executed or something for my treachery.

"Sakura, Sasuke, welcome." She greeted as we entered.

"Good morning, Lady Tsunade." Sakura bowed her head.

"Well, let's get right to business." Tsunade announced as she twined her fingers and rested her elbows on the table.

Sakura looked at me from the corner of her eye. I kept my eyes forward and waited for Tsunade to continue.

"Sasuke Uchiha, you have no idea how much I had to fight to lower what the elders had in store for you. Sometimes they can be so unreasonable." Tsunade spoke the last statement more to herself than to me.

"So what do you plan to do to me?" I asked.

"After long consideration and debating, we decided…that you shall remain a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village." Tsunade proclaimed. A small smile reached her lips.

Sakura let out a barely audible sigh of relief, a feeling of stress I had ever since I entered the village lightened slightly.

"Of course, you're not let off that easily." Tsunade interjected our thoughts. "We have decided that your punishment will be a two year probation with several courses of interrogation to get all the information we can from you."

"So I can't just spill everything in one interrogation seminar and be done with it?" I questioned.

"No, there is much that we can learn from you, and we don't want anything to slip by. If we were to only interrogate you once, there are countless key points that may slip through our thoughts. We want to be undoubtedly sure that we've gotten anything and everything that we may need to aid us in the future or add to our records." Tsunade explained. "You can understand that, right?"

"Hn," I grunted, "whatever."

"Now for you, Sakura," Tsunade declared as she turned her face towards the pink haired kunoichi. "I'm assigning you a mission."

"I figured as much." Sakura sighed. "So what is it this time?"

"It's nothing too complex," Tsunade clarified, "it's a B-ranked mission that will take you to the Land of Corals. There you'll be playing a double role as a spy and an assassinator. We need you to gather information in that town about a rash outbreak of disappearances. Since there's obviously someone behind it, we'd like you to take that person out."

"I understand, Lady Tsunade." Sakura bowed her head again.

"Though there's one catch." Tsunade added.

Sakura gave her a quizzical look, and Tsunade directed her attention at me.

"Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha, this mission goes to you both." Tsunade declared.

"Huh?" Sakura blurted out. "I thought you said he was on probation."

"Yes, but I also said that he was still a Leaf shinobi." Tsunade clarified. "Besides, he'll have you around to keep an eye on him. Sasuke, you should be warned, if something happens to Sakura or you try and make a break for it, you won't be accepted back into this village. Do you both understand?"

Sakura bowed at the waist, "Yes, Lady Tsunade."

I huffed, "Yeah, this shouldn't be a big deal."

"Good, you'll leave tomorrow morning. You're both dismissed."

We both turned for the door.

"Oh, wait, Sasuke." Tsunade called.

I turned to face her, "Hn?"

"Have you found a place to stay yet?" Tsunade asked. "I understand that Naruto isn't here at the moment, and you'll need to sleep somewhere tonight."

"Oh, why didn't you say anything, Sasuke?" Sakura suddenly questioned. I gave her a puzzled look. "I've been taking up all your time and you haven't even found a place to sleep for the night. You don't plan to sleep on a bench, do you?"

At the last statement, Sakura suddenly averted her gaze from me. I frowned slightly. She was still hurt inside no matter how she acted towards me.

"Well I haven't really bothered to think on it." I shrugged. "I wouldn't mind sleeping outside if I have to."

"No!" Sakura yelled out. She shrunk back for a moment as she realized she had raised her voice too high. "I-I mean…you could stay at my place for the night. Once we get back from the mission, you can stay with Naruto afterwards if you want to, or if you rent a home."

"Hn," I grunted, "you don't have to."

"Then where else will you stay?"

I was silent for a moment. "Okay."

Sakura smiled lightly at me and then went for the door. I looked back at Lady Tsunade for a moment, I could just hear her murmur something about being gullible and falling for such an act. I smirked and walked out the door after Sakura.

'"'"'"'"

The rest of that night was moderately uneventful. We ate dinner, packed together the supplies we'd need for tomorrow's mission, and slightly reacquainted ourselves about the past few years.

I had to admit that it was actually nice to have Sakura around. She wasn't fangirling over me anymore, and she had really grown over the years. There was a small part in me that slightly missed her old ways, and a large part of me that wondered if she even loves me anymore like she said she did all those years ago. I didn't plan to bring up the subject. I didn't want to risk damaging the level of friendship we had regained in this time.

'"'"'"'"

We both walked out of the village bright and early the next morning. Sakura held the map that would lead us to the Land of Corals, and I trailed behind her. We took the trail at a leisurely rate for about four hours before we sat down for lunch by a stream.

Lunch was going by slowly and pretty silently. I had finished my lunch and I watched the stream flow by my side. Sakura had walked off a couple minutes ago saying stuff about checking something on the map and seeing something up ahead. She still hadn't returned and I started to get slightly anxious about what was taking her.

I stood up finally. I was going to head out and find Sakura myself. However, I hadn't expected to turn around and find her right in front of me. Caught off guard, I accidentally toppled back to the ground, but not without pulling her with me in my attempt to stay upright.

My head hit the ground hard, and Sakura's elbow accidentally struck me in the chest, it painfully knocked the wind out of me. I momentarily gasped for breath with Sakura still positioned on top of me.

"Oh, Sasuke, I'm sorry!" Sakura apologized by my ear. "Are you alright?"

I reached out and grasped her elbow; I pulled it off my chest so I could breathe correctly again. The sudden removal of the block between us caused Sakura to fall forward a little more and abruptly stop less than an inch from my face.

"I'm fine," I breathed.

Sakura's cheeks blushed crimson. Her eyes flickered to my hand which still held her elbow firmly. I realized this and released her. I let her roll off me, an embarrassed look plastered on her face.

"What?" I questioned. "It was just an accident."

The color on Sakura's face faded, she nodded and stood up. I followed her motion and walked over to my bag. I slung it over my shoulder and glanced back at her.

"You ready to go?" I asked.

"Y-yeah," Sakura stammered coyly as she walked over to her bag and picked it up.

Sakura glanced over at me warily. I sighed as if I had already brushed aside the incident. In my mind, however, my thoughts continually strayed back to the feel of her body on mine, the close proximity of our faces, and the feel of her breath on my neck.

"Sasuke," Sakura's voice called.

I snapped my eyes forward, pulled out of my reverie. "Hn," I responded.

"Are you coming?" Sakura asked. She stood a few meters away on the trail.

"Yeah," I called back.

Sakura turned and continued to walk down the trail. I picked up my pace to catch up with her, and then walked by her side.

'"'"'"'"

We arrived in a small town just as the sun began to go down. We stopped by an inn for the night. Sakura blushed a shade that rivaled her hair when the attendant at the inn asked if we were a couple and if we wanted one bed or two.

We stayed in our hotel room the whole time. We ate dinner in our room so we could discuss what we'd do when we reached the Land of Corals in two days.

I began to feel very comfortable around Sakura since I spent all this time with her. Our new bond seemed to be much stronger than our old one. Sakura was good company when it came to talking, and beneath her fragile looking form, there was a monster strength, intelligence, and ability. I came to hold her with a level of respect because of that.

'"'"'"'"

The next morning I received Sakura as a wakeup call. She nudged me on the shoulder and gave commands for me to get up and get ready to leave. I, not being a morning person, tried my best to crawl under the covers for even five more minutes of rest. However, Sakura wasn't one to give up as easily as the people in Orochimaru's lair who used to wake me up, and I was reluctantly pulled from bed.

"I don't know whether to think you've gotten stronger after five years or just lazier." Sakura huffed in exasperation as we left the small village later that day.

"I wasn't a morning person when I was thirteen; I'm not a morning person when I'm eighteen." I grumbled in response. "I don't think that'll ever change."

"Well at least start trying to get used to it." Sakura growled. "I don't want to have to deal with your attitude during this mission if we have to get up early and you're in a pissy mood because you didn't get your precious Uchiha beauty sleep."

"Damn you're being annoying." I seethed through my teeth. "Are you on your time of the month or something? You're attitude is worse than my morning one."

Slap!

I stumbled back a step at Sakura's vicious slap across my cheek.

"Don't—_ever_—ask—a—girl—that." Sakura enunciated acidly. Her cheeks reddened deeper than my slapped one with anger. "Obviously Orochimaru never bothered to teach you some manners around women!"

"Hn," I grunted, "you say that like there were any women there worth my time in the first place."

"For all I know." Sakura snarled. "There could have been some girl there that you had a little rendezvous with once or twice. How do I know what the girls there are like?"

Sakura's whole being flashed "danger" at me. She was getting extremely angry. The next thing I say could induce the sudden need in her to break my neck. I drew in a large breath before saying anything in response.

"Look, can we just drop this, Sakura?" I sighed. "It won't do us any good on this mission if we're fighting."

"Hmph, so is that an apology?" Sakura asked crossly.

"What do I have to apologize for?"

"For being a jerk, that's what!"

"You started it with your complaints about my non-morning attitude."

"You're the one who started getting angry at my suggestions to calm your morning temper."

I ran my fingers through my hair and let a low growl escape my throat. "Look, we both had a few things to do with this argument, alright? Now can we just move on and get this mission done?"

Sakura glared at me, "Fine, then let's do this right."

I looked at her with a puzzled expression.

Sakura sighed and quickly muttered, "I apologize for my behavior."

I smirked for a moment. "I apologize for mine. Though this did help me learn something."

Sakura shot me a confused look.

I chuckled lightly, "I learned that if I ever marry you, I better not buy anything that could cause some serious damage if we have a fight in our home."

Sakura blushed a pretty shade of pink and quickly turned away. "Let's go." She called without turning her head.

I watched her walk ahead for a moment, a small smile of unknown triumph plastered to my face. I then picked up my pace and we continued on our way.

**Wee! Nonsense chapters! I had planned to end this with they arrive in the Land of Corals, but this last verbal fight scene just kept going and going as I typed! Sorry this is so late at night for some of you people! (Of course, where I am the sun just went down a little while ago.) The next chapter is where some of that kind of romancy fluff begins. Well, at least with one of the ideas I have in store for the next chapter. *Grins evily*. Fwa ha ha, you'll all just have to wait! Bye! **


	3. Inconveniences?

**Chapter Three- Inconveniences?**

The rest of the trip was uneventful to my relief. Any more oddities and I just might have blown. The Land of Corals came into our view as we rounded a bend in an old rowboat.

"Here we are." Sakura announced.

I looked up from my position on the boat, since I was the one rowing, and observed the village as it drew closer. It was obviously middle to low class based off the conditions of the houses and the surrounding grounds. Weeds choked up the dock, and we had to land our boat on the shore. Scarcely anyone was outside when we arrived, and anyone who was glanced at us with looks of curiosity, confusion, or the occasional look of happiness I couldn't quite understand.

"So where're we headed?" I murmured to Sakura as another person gave us a strange look.

"Lady Tsunade informed me that the client would be waiting for us in the town square." Sakura clarified.

"Aa," I snorted in response.

We soon reached an outstretched area in the village that I could only assume was the town square by the increased number of people that suddenly sprang up in it. Sakura's head whipped from side to side as she searched for our client.

"Leaf Village shinobi?" A voice squeaked.

I turned towards the noise to be greeted by a graying, slightly plump man. He eyed us skeptically, and I was suddenly aware that I wasn't wearing a Leaf headband, and Sakura's was barely visible behind her pink hair.

"Yes, are you Mister Hono?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, call me Akai. Oh, thank goodness you are here."Akai sighed in relief. "Come with me, quickly."

We both started to follow Akai. He glanced back at us both and stopped.

"What are you doing, boy?" He questioned.

"I'm a part of this mission." I replied. "I'm a shinobi as well."

Akai raised an eyebrow. "Two?" He stated. "I remember only asking for one person."

"Oh…well, Lady Tsunade kind of assigned him last minute." Sakura explained. "It doesn't cost extra for another person."

"It's not the money I'm thinking of." Akai muttered more to himself than to us.

I gave Sakura a questioning glance. She shrugged her shoulders and we continued to follow Akai down the road.

We reached a small dwelling that was made of old wood and nails. When we stepped inside the floorboards creaked noisily under our weight to the extent that I thought they'd bust beneath our feet. Akai led us to the kitchen where there was a small assortment of food on the table.

"If you two are hungry, you may eat." Akai instructed.

"Thank you." Sakura smiled politely. She walked over to the table, inspected it for a moment, and then picked up an apple. She looked over at me as if she wanted me to follow her motion.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm not that hungry."

"Okay, then." Akai spoke. "So, shall we possibly run over what you need to know?"

"Yes." Sakura replied. "We don't have a lot of information about what it really is that's going on here. If you could clarify for us how's it's been going, that would be a great help."

"Of course," Akai began. "Let's see…I'd have to say it all started about three months ago. The daughter of a wealthy family in this town disappeared. She was only the first, however, as the next to disappear was a boy from a home not far from here. The third was another boy, but he came from barely a family at all. By this time, people were beginning to worry that there was a serial kidnapper on the loose."

Sakura nodded her head as Akai spoke. I stood silently as I waited for him to continue.

"The father of the first kidnapped, the girl, went off to find his daughter. He returned, three weeks later, at the foot of his own home, but he was dead."

Sakura shuddered at the tale. "And that's when you all decided to hire ninja?"

"Yes. The wife of the man, grieving over the loss and the absence of her daughter, was more than willing to pay for the mission fee. We held a small meeting with a few select people, and decided that you would be kept undercover here in my home."

"So you want us to play the role of townspeople and at the same time work as spies to figure this whole thing out and kill whoever is behind it?" I inquired with an unfazed tone at Akai's story.

"Yes, but I have more news." Akai added. "While you were traveling here, another was abducted, a small girl whom everyone knew as an innocent being. Now, we all desperately wish for your help to unravel this mystery."

"We'll do everything we can." Sakura declared with an air of determination in her voice.

"That is great news to hear." Akai sighed softly with relief. "Now, about what you shall do."

"We'll have to take up some kind of role to fit our sudden arrival here so anyone who may be involved with the kidnappings doesn't suspect us." Sakura stated.

"Hm, I believe people will buy it if I said that this young man here," Akai gestured his finger at me, "is my nephew coming from the Land of Water. He has a certain resemblance to my late younger brother. I think you, my dear," he looked at Sakura, "will have to play the role as his wife…or maybe fiancé with how young you two seem to be."

A light tinge of pink made its way onto Sakura's cheeks. "Well…if it's…for the mission; what do you think, Sasuke?"

I shrugged, "I don't care. It's not like its real or anything. We're just acting."

"Okay, so that will do." Akai confirmed. "I guess I'll have to leave the rest of the work up to you two, then. I don't know what good I'll be besides being your alibi."

"Okay, so now that that's settled." Sakura raised her arms in the air and yawned. "It's been a really long day with the traveling, I'd love to just go to sleep and start working on the case tomorrow."

"Oh…yes, sure." Akai stuttered a little.

I glanced over at Akai. A strange feeling came up in my stomach, and I could only associate it with the fact that something bad was probably coming.

Akai motioned for us to follow him, and he led us down a small hallway that only had two doors.

"This one here is my room." Akai told us as he pointed at the door on the left. "This one…" Akai looked at the door on the right. He opened it, and for a moment I thought it was something bad, but it was just a simple room.

I didn't quite understand what Akai was so nervous about, but when I glanced down at Sakura, who had a clear view into the whole room, that's when I knew something was up. Her face was tinted a bit with a light pink, and her fingers fidgeted uncomfortably.

Finally, I looked over my teammate to see clear into the room. It was small, to say the least, with one dresser, a small desk, and, as I suddenly came to realize what the problem was, one not-so-large bed. I now understood why Akai was so worried about there being two of us. It was the only available place for someone else to sleep.

"I'm sorry about the inconvenience." Akai muttered shyly.

"Oh, no, it's fine." Sakura replied a little shakily. "We are playing the role of a couple…after all."

I looked over at Sakura. The color in her face was rising bit by bit. Akai slunk off silently to his room, and I knew there was no escaping this. I considered the ground for a moment, but quickly had to dispose of that when I looked to the old, hard, probably extremely uncomfortable floor. Also, thinking back, I realized Akai had no couches, just wooden chairs.

"Fuck," I muttered under my breath, just low enough so Sakura couldn't hear me.

Sakura entered the room. She never looked at me once while she put down her bag and started to fish through it for something to sleep in. I decided to just follow her motion and got ready to go to sleep.

"_This is going to be an awkward mission." _I suddenly thought.

Sakura left for a couple moments to change in the bathroom nearby, and I stayed in the room to change. She came back about three minutes later wearing a long sleeved shirt and loose pants. She was obviously nervous, and I tried to keep silent and calm so I didn't freak her out any more than she already was.

By the time Sakura had returned, I was already in the bed. I kept my back to her, besides when I turned to see her enter, and stuck to the edge so she'd have room. She took a really long time to get to the bed. I could hear her stop every step and take a moment before she took another. Eventually, I felt her weight being pushed down onto the bed, and she pulled the covers over herself. She, too, stuck to the edge and kept her back to me.

"Good night." She sighed.

"Hn," I replied.

'"'"'"'"

The next morning I woke up to a familiar shade of pink in my face. I was surprised for a moment that I actually woke up before her, but then I looked down and realized my position. During the night I had turned over to face Sakura's back, and had unconsciously pulled her towards me. My hand rested around her middle, and, to my complete shock, had slightly reached underneath her shirt to come in contact with her skin. I quickly drew back and slipped out of the bed to let her sleep. I found myself watching her for a couple minutes until I realized what I was doing and went off to get ready for the day.

"_How many days did they expect this mission to last?" _I asked myself, and felt a small smirk tug at my lips in response.

**Chapter three complete and it's not even noon yet! (For me at least) Damn, I've been sitting here for like, two whole hours working on this! (Not counting the hour or so I worked on it last night.) I guess that means if it takes me three hours to write a chapter and about another hour to let my eyes rest so I can proof it correctly and get it up, this weekend you all should probably expect a few chapters! (And I've only been writing on here for what, a month and a half? I think right now it's running pretty well!) Please, tell me what you think! Bye! **


	4. Research

**Chapter Four- Research**

Sakura came from the bedroom about twenty minutes later. I sat at the table as I ate some breakfast Akai had made.

"Good morning, Sasuke." Sakura greeted and sat across from me.

"Hn, morning," I replied.

Sakura reached over and took one of my pancakes. I gave her a quick look to tell her I wasn't happy about it, but she just giggled a bit and took a bite of it.

"So, do you have any idea how we're going to do this spy work?" I asked.

"Well…no." Sakura admitted. "I was hoping we could discuss that now."

I sighed, "I guess I was wrong to assume you've changed _that _much."

"What's that supposed to mean, Uchiha?" She asked icily.

"Nothing, okay." I shot back. "I don't want to start another argument."

"You're…" She cut off her sentence as she growled.

"Well, how are you doing this morning?" Akai asked as he suddenly appeared with a plate of food.

"Oh, Akai, good morning," Sakura greeted, "I'm fine."

"Good, here's some breakfast for you." Akai said as he placed the plate in front of Sakura.

"See, you didn't need to steal that pancake." I muttered.

"Oh, stop brooding over it. Do you want one of mine?" She asked exasperatedly.

I said nothing and continued eating.

"So, what do you two plan to do today?" Akai asked as he pulled up a chair and sat at the table with us.

"Well, we're really not sure." Sakura confessed. "I mean, maybe we could talk with the people who had their child abducted to see if they have any news."

"That could work." Akai agreed.

"Sasuke, do you have anything to add?" Sakura turned to me.

"No. I'm fine with the plan we have." I stated. "We'll walk around the town after breakfast with Akai. He can tell us who's related to the disappeared kids."

"Alright, glad to see I'll be of some help." Akai smiled at us and stood to leave the room, which left the two of us to eat in silence.

'"'"'"'"

After breakfast, Akai took us to the home of the now widow whose daughter was abducted.

"Is there anything you may be able to tell us?" Sakura asked the lady. "Like if you saw anything or if the kidnapper left anything behind?"

"No," The lady sighed sadly, "I was out of the house when both incidents occurred. The only one who would probably have a chance of knowing…is dead." The lady started to cry a little.

"Yes, I heard of your loss." Sakura nodded her head sympathetically.

I stood by Akai while Sakura spoke to the woman.

"Mew," a sound below called.

I glanced down to see a little orange cat. It walked over to Akai and rubbed up against him. Akai started to dart away from the cat.

"Shoo, you," Akai growled.

I raised an eyebrow at the scene. Akai looked over at me and frowned. "Allergies, I hate cats."

"Aa," I grunted and turned back to Sakura who walked away from the woman to me. She shook her head to say she found nothing.

"Mew," the cat was suddenly underneath Sakura and it rubbed itself against her leg.

"That cat belonged to my daughter." The woman sobbed a little. "It's probably looking for someone to cuddle with. I detest cats, but my daughter insisted on one. It used to follow her everywhere."

"It's a beautiful cat." Sakura commented as she leaned down to pet it.

"Hn, can we go?" I asked impatiently.

"Fine," Sakura huffed, "we'll let you know if we find anything out about your daughter, ma'am."

"Thank you." The woman sighed and smiled at Sakura.

We exited the house and began to walk down the road.

"So, where do we go next?" Sakura asked and looked to Akai.

"We'll go to the parents of the first abducted boy." Akai stated, and turned down a corner.

"Mew," I heard the familiar sound behind me.

I turned to face the feline. It sat a couple feet away. It stared past me at Sakura and Akai, who walked ahead, unaware that I had stopped.

"Go home, cat." I instructed, and turned to catch up with Sakura and Akai.

'"'"'"'"

The house that had the first abducted boy held no useful information. They said it happened in the middle of the night while everyone was asleep. The second boy didn't have much of a family, and no one was really there to talk to about the kidnapping. The place of the recent abduction brought us to a house on the outskirts opposite of where we had first arrived in the Land of Corals.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Sakura told the couple we faced sympathetically. They both sat together in a fit of tears over the abduction.

I sighed lightly, every place we'd been to so far had someone in tears, and there was never any information. I mentally checked off our last place of hope, knowing we'd find nothing.

"Did you happen to see anything when your daughter was abducted?" Sakura asked.

"Not that I know of," the husband answered sadly.

"Oh, I see." Sakura replied half-heartedly.

"Actually, I may have seen something." The wife suddenly announced.

Both Sakura and I shot our heads up at the news.

"Could you tell me what you saw?" Sakura questioned hopefully.

"The night of the abduction, probably right before it happened, I was sitting at the window upstairs." The wife explained. "I saw something move down the side alleyway of our house. I saw a shape move down farther. It was undoubtedly the shape of a man. I brushed it aside, however, as during the day I typically see people weave through that alleyway to get to the main road of the town. I thought he was just a late night roamer. For all I know, however, it could have been the very man who took our daughter away."

The wife broke into a small fit of sobs once more. Sakura looked over at me, I gave her a quick nod and we both stood.

"Thank you for your time." Sakura said. "I'll let you know if we find anything that may lead us to your daughter."

"Thank you." The husband sighed as he held his crying wife.

We exited the home and Sakura gave me a grin.

"Well, that wasn't as good as I had hoped, but it narrows things down." Sakura pronounced happily.

"Yeah, I guess we just cut the suspects list in half down to males." I agreed.

"Well, let's hope you can gather anything from this." Akai smiled at us.

"Hopefully, I think tomorrow we should pick up our undercover roles to talk to the villagers. They may know something on the case." Sakura suggested.

"Fine," I huffed, "could we head back, then?"

"Awe, is the Uchiha tired?" Sakura joked.

"Yes, but he has a nice Sakura pillow to sleep on." I shot back at a whisper so Akai couldn't hear.

Sakura's face bubbled up to a cherry red. She quickly turned away from me and walked down the road. I smirked in triumph and followed.

'"'"'"'"

The next morning I awoke even earlier, and found myself in the same position with Sakura as last time. The only extra thing is that I felt my hand went up and under her shirt farther this time, and I, for one reason or another, took a longer time before I pulled away.

I stood and gazed down at Sakura's sleeping form. Her pants hung a little too loose on her sides and fell down kind of far. Her shirt, at the moment slightly pulled up from my hand pulling out of it, revealed quite a bit of her stomach, if it was moved any more you could probably see the bottom of her—

I snapped out of my thoughts before they went any farther. "Damn hormones." I muttered.

"You idiot," Sakura suddenly mumbled.

I almost jumped back when her voice rang out like that. Upon closer inspection, however, I discovered she was still asleep.

"_She must be dreaming about Naruto doing something stupid." _I thought.

"Sasuke…why'd you have to leave me?" she muttered sadly.

My blood froze over for a moment at her words. The impact of reality began to sink in.

I really did leave her, in more ways than one.

"I hate you." She whispered acidly.

I stood absolutely still as those three words hit me hard, right in the chest. I looked away, and almost started to walk out.

"I love you." She whispered even softer, but with a different tone.

I couldn't take any more of her words, and abruptly went for the door.

"I hope…you don't leave again." I heard her mutter as I closed the door.

I leaned against the hard wood of the door. Sakura's words played over and over in my mind. _I love you. I hate you. Why'd you have to leave? _

"I guess she's right." I sighed. "I really am an idiot."

'"'"'"'"

Sakura came out later with her typical morning greeting. I'm not sure if she just ignored the dream she had or she doesn't remember it, but she seemed normal enough. We reviewed the plan; we'd go out into town and ask around about the disappearances. We figured someone was bound to know something about the recent outbreak.

"Okay, so we'll meet back up here in two hours." Sakura instructed. "Try to keep time, and it's acceptable to be a few minutes late if you're on a lead, but best to contact the other if time's drawing near."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." I sighed exasperatedly.

"What's got you all pissed off?" Sakura questioned as she put her hand on her hip. I couldn't help but notice how that stance helped show off some of her curves. I snapped out of it, brushed aside her question, and began on my way through town.

'"'"'"'"

"I heard it's some guy gone crazy and he eats the people he kidnaps." Someone told me in a store. "That's all I've heard on the matter."

"Hn," I grunted and quickly walked away from the man.

"Curious about the abductions, are we?" A voice asked from the right.

"Yeah, would you know anything about it?" I questioned.

"Possibly, it depends on your purpose for wanting to know." The voice was hoarse and came from a cloaked female.

"That's for me to know." I stated bitterly.

"My information is for me to know, then." The female cackled.

I started to get frustrated, and felt that my hand started to linger close to my blade. The female quickly raised her arm in a semblance for me to stop my action.

"Now, would you really intend to do me harm in such an enclosed area where people can see you and remember to run from you with the possibilities of holding information that may be crucial for your mission?" She asked.

My glare faltered for a moment, "How'd you know?"

"I have my ways." The woman replied.

"So, do you plan to say anything?" I spat.

"Hmmm…how shall I put this…?" She mused. "Danger lies closer than you know. Even the most innocent of people have a dark side within them. Not all rumors you hear may be entirely false, and following your oddest companions primal instincts may lead you closer to what you want."

"What the hell is that supposed to—" I blinked, and the woman disappeared. Her cackling just barely rang through my ears.

I looked around the shop for any sign of the female retreating, but all was clear, and a couple of customers were giving me odd looks.

Silently cursing, I walked out of the shop, and unfortunately bumped into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry." I recognized the voice. I looked down. "Oh, Sasuke, it's you." Sakura stood in my way. "Have you gotten anything?"

I thought of the strange old lady's words, they still rang clear in my mind. I shook my head however, "No, just a bunch of stupid rumors."

"I know," Sakura sighed, "I could write a book with all the crazy things I've heard. From aliens to cannibals, rouge ninja organizations to just plain runaways, it's driving me nuts. You know, one person even said that the guy behind this was using some forbidden jutsu to take the lives of the kids and devour them to make him live longer."

"Sounds like Orochimaru rumors." I replied. "The people in this town are nuts."

"Seriously, well," Sakura huffed, "I kind of doubt we'll get anything better than that. Should we just head back to Akai's?"

"Hn, sure," I answered.

We both began to walk down the road. I heard a small noise to the side and looked over to see the same cat from the first lady's house staring at me.

"Mew," it cried.

"Go home." I instructed.

The cat stared at me still with its glowing yellow eyes. I realized then, that I just tried to talk to a cat, and followed after Sakura. I pushed the feline away from my mind.

**Chapter four complete! Tiredness level…like a seven, but I've been running around a bit today. This chapter will probably come out like an hour after I type this, so I guess I really can't say much for the now-time. Once again, bit of a nonsense chapter, but you can just feel the potential of something big happening just dripping beneath the words! I already know what's going to happen in the next chapter, and let's just say that I plan to bring out the romance part of this story! (I had said this story would be mostly romance, but the adventure is just too tempting not to write about, so next chapter is like…my redemption!) Stay tuned for it! **


	5. Awkward Situations

**Chapter Five- Awkward Situations**

"Sasuke," a voice called softly.

I remained unresponsive to the voice.

"Sasuke," the voice called a little louder.

I slightly shifted, I didn't want to move, I was comfortable.

"Sasuke, wake up already." The voice almost yelled.

I groaned in annoyance and opened one of my eyes. I found myself greeted by pink hair. For a moment I thought I had dreamt the voice, or maybe Sakura was sleep talking again.

The voice came up again, and this time I knew it was Sakura, and she was awake, "Sasuke, it would do me well if you'd let go of me so I can get up." Her voice sounded as though it was about to crack with some emotion.

Realization suddenly dawned on me. My nightly course had continued. This time, however, my hand had made its way completely under her shirt, and a strong grip kept her against me. To add to this dilemma, Sakura had, unfortunately, woken up before me. Color threatened to rise in my face, but I kept it suppressed as much as I could. I could tell Sakura, however, was practically a ripe tomato.

"Sorry." I grunted and released my grip on her.

Sakura slid out of the bed. She didn't face me once as she grabbed her backpack, pulled out her daily clothes, and left the room to change. I continued to lay there for a moment, my thoughts absorbed with my situation.

"_If this keeps up, by next morning I may be groping one of her—" _I pulled away from my thoughts and shook my head to clear it. I refused to become some hormonal wreck over a girl, especially not my teammate. I couldn't help, however, that my thoughts continually strayed back to her. I thought back to the feel of her skin and how nice it felt to have her pulled that close to me.

"Damn it, Sasuke, snap the hell out of it." I cursed and pulled myself out of the bed to get ready for the day. Unfortunately, a certain pink haired kunoichi entered my mind every three seconds while I rummaged around for my clothes.

I walked out of the bedroom down to the dining room. Sakura hadn't come out just yet, and Akai seemed to still be sleeping with the lack of noise around. I pulled up a chair to the table and rested my arms on its surface. My thoughts were still clouded with the color pink.

"What the hell." I grumbled. "Why is she so stuck in my mind?"

I didn't have any more time to think about Sakura, as she entered the room then. She glanced at me to acknowledge that she knew I was there, but she didn't make eye contact. She pulled up a chair across from me and sat down. She observed the table quietly and I stared at the wall next to me. We sat silent like that for almost ten straight minutes.

"Sakura," I finally spoke, "it was just an accident. It's not like I can control what I do when I sleep. It meant nothing."

"I know." Sakura replied. She still refused to look up from the table.

We were in awkward silence again until Akai finally emerged.

"Oh, I see you two are up." Akai greeted. "I'll go make breakfast, then."

Akai disappeared into the kitchen and left the two of us to remain in silence again.

Akai emerged later with three plates of food. He gave one to Sakura, then to me, and then sat down with his own.

"So, what's the plan for today?" Akai asked.

"I'm not all that sure." Sakura replied. "I mean, we talked to the parents, we talked to villagers, where else is there to go?"

"The kidnapper's been pretty silent lately." I added. "He may know we're here, so he's not doing anything. If he were to take someone while we're here, it may lead us closer."

"But how could he have found out you're here?" Akai questioned.

"Word spreads in the oddest of ways." Sakura stated. "He may even have seen us talking to the parents, if he is aware of our presence."

"So you're stuck?" Akai inquired sadly.

"Pretty much, unless we took another round of talking to the villagers," I sighed.

"Great, another round of insane theories and bull, can't wait." Sakura huffed exasperatedly.

"Well, I sure hope you two get lucky." Akai smiled at us.

'"'"'"'"

"Hey, Sakura, how about we head off together this time?" I suggested as we left Akai's home.

Sakura turned to me, "What? Why? If we split up we'll be able to cover more ground!"

"Yeah, but it also increases our chances of talking to some of the same people with the same stupid theories the other heard. The less repeats we get means we talk to more new ones, and the higher our chances of finding someone who knows something faster." I explained.

Sakura fidgeted uncomfortably for a moment, "Fine," she sighed, "I guess I can't beat that logic."

"Come on, then." I instructed and began to walk down the road. Sakura followed after me.

'"'"'"'"

"Well, thanks for your time, anyway." Sakura told a lady who had no information on the kidnappings.

We walked away from the shop and Sakura sighed, "I don't know if we'll find anyone in this town with some useful information."

I didn't respond. In fact, I wasn't even listening to her. Sakura caught on to this and gave me a questioning look.

"Sasuke, are you listening?" She asked.

"Quiet, listen to what these guys here are saying." I ordered as I pulled her behind a wall so the men I was referring to wouldn't see us.

"Yeah, I heard about that, too." One of them said.

"So you really think you know who the kidnapper is?" Another questioned.

"Of course, it's quite obvious if you look at the facts." The third one boasted.

"Well…he has been acting kind of different lately." The second confirmed.

"Though I have to wonder why you'd suspect an innocent guy like Renji." The first huffed.

"You've seen how dodgy he's been lately. It all started after the first kidnapping, too." The third clarified. "Renji has something to do with the disappearances, I'm almost certain!"

"Hey, keep it down, someone may hear." The first growled.

I looked over at Sakura. She looked as surprised and skeptical as I felt.

"It's worth a shot." I whispered to her. She nodded and we slunk off from the trio.

"Excuse me." Sakura asked a man who passed by. "Would you happen to know where a man named Renji lives?"

"Right down the road, tenth house to the right," The man instructed.

"Thank you." Sakura replied and we walked down the road.

We reached the house the man had designated and knocked on the door. A couple moments later, someone cracked it open and an eye peeped out.

"What is it?" He asked.

"We'd like to ask you about something." Sakura told him.

Renji opened the door a bit more to allow us to pass through.

"Can't be too careful, nowadays," Renji sighed, "not with that kidnapper on the loose."

"So you've heard about him?" Sakura asked.

"Heard about him? He's got me scared out of my wits!" Renji explained. "I have a newborn son, and I don't want anything to happen to him."

Sakura looked over at me. I knew we'd made a mistake.

"Well, have you heard anything descriptive about the kidnapper?" Sakura questioned.

"Why do you want to know?" He asked skeptically.

"Just a bit of curiosity, nothing more." Sakura replied.

"Well, I've only heard that it's a man." Renji admitted.

"Yeah, we've heard that, too." Sakura nodded in response. "Is that all?"

"As far as I know, but there may be others who know better." Renji shrugged.

"Well, would you know any rumors?" Sakura pressed.

"No, I try not to listen to them. I only know the facts of the case, and that's that four children are currently missing and a man is behind it." Renji told us.

"Hm, thanks for your time, I guess." Sakura sighed.

"I hope they catch this man soon, I can't stand locking myself up like this, but if I don't…I don't know what'll happen to my boy." Renji huffed.

"I think they may be on a trail." Sakura told him comfortingly. "Well, we'd best get going."

We showed ourselves to the door and walked out.

"Well, that was a waste of time." I huffed.

"I know, but it was still worth a shot." Sakura replied.

"Well, the sun's starting to go down." I stated. "Another day wasted."

"At this rate we could be here for months with no lead." Sakura sighed.

"Yeah, there goes a chunk of my life."

"Oh, and what do you consider the five years you spent in a hole?" Sakura shot out.

"Training time," I replied.

Sakura sighed, "Of course."

I chuckled lightly, "Come on; let's get back to Akai's."

'"'"'"'"

I sat on the bed garbed in my night clothes. Sakura entered in her night clothes, she carried a rolled up blanket. I gave her a questioning look.

"I think I'll be sleeping on the floor for the rest of this mission." Sakura stated.

"What?" I questioned. "Why?"

"I just think I'll be more comfortable." Sakura replied.

"If it's because of what happened, then I think you're overreacting."

"It's not just that." Sakura shot back. "It's uncomfortable having to share such a small space with someone."

"Then why don't you let me take the floor? You can have the bed." I offered.

"No, I'm pretty sure it'll just induce some bad Uchiha attitude having to sleep on the ground while I get a comfy bed."

"So you're saying it'll be better if the one with the quick temper takes the uncomfortable floor?" I questioned. "Your logic sure isn't working well."

Sakura glared at me. "You're one to talk. You _always _have a bad attitude. At least I can be nice!"

"Yeah, just keep telling yourself that."

Something in Sakura seemed to have snapped. She chucked the blanket to the ground, walked over to me, and planted a hard fist on my head. I flinched at the impact, but took it nonetheless.

My head spun a little, Sakura stormed back to her discarded blanket and organized it on the ground to create a makeshift bed. She pulled out the blanket we slept on while we traveled here and put it over her makeshift bed as a cover.

"Stupid Uchiha, I hate you." She grumbled under her breath.

I watched Sakura for a moment before I spoke. "How can you hate the one you love?"

Sakura shot her head up to look at me. She remained silent until she asked, "Who said I was still in love with you? I could have moved on for all you know."

"Then tell me, who has taken hold of the heart you said belonged to me?" I inquired.

"I was thirteen back then, and you rejected me all the same." Sakura growled.

I said nothing for a bit. "So I'm not allowed to change my mind?"

"I know you haven't." Sakura replied. "You're not like that."

"Well, you haven't changed either." I retorted.

"You wouldn't know."

"Actually, I think I do." Sakura gave me a questioning look. "They say when you sleep talk, you can't tell a lie."

Sakura blushed. "W-what're you talking about?"

"No use questioning, Sakura, I think it's pretty obvious what I mean." I stated.

Sakura looked down at the covers she sat on, suddenly lost for words. I crawled off the bed and sat down in front of her. I pulled her chin up to make her look at me.

"You're not the only one who's had conflicting emotions." I announced. "Ever since I came back to the village and was assigned this mission with you I've been suffering on the inside."

Sakura tried to look away, but I jerked her forward to look at me.

"Look, I know we've been going through a lot of troubles lately…but…" I stopped. I was never good with words. Now I was the one who had to look away for a moment. "I…have a dream I still want to fulfill."

Sakura looked at me almost with a look of comprehension. She leaned in slightly. I released my grip on her chin and moved my hands to touch the ground behind her. I filled in the space between us and gently placed a kiss on her lips. Sakura leaned in closer as her arms rested on mine. I pushed forward just a bit more and caused her to fall on her back, our connection remained undisturbed. Sakura snaked her arms around my chest and gripped my shirt. My arms supported me so I didn't crush her, but her grip pulled me down closer.

We remained like that for nearly a full two minutes until Sakura pushed me up and gasped for air. I looked down at her, a smirk stuck on my face.

"Now, who is this guy that holds your heart?" I whispered in her ear.

"Do I really need to tell you again?" Sakura asked playfully.

I chuckled lightly and leaned down to kiss her again. She returned my gesture happily, and all too soon, I had to pull away again. I pushed myself off of her. For a moment she looked a little disappointed, but I quickly grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her up onto the bed with my arms wrapped around her.

"So, do you plan to sleep here or on the floor?" I asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Are you giving me a choice?" Sakura giggled slightly as she put her hands over mine wrapped securely around her waist.

"Then your only choice is to sleep." I replied and tightened my grip.

"Good night." Sakura whispered.

"Good night." I whispered in return.

**Well, this was my redemption chapter! I think I did pretty adequate! Honestly, the key points of this chapter had been in my head for a while, but it was different. I really had a completely different idea to get them together. (But that's how it works, it just flows out until next thing you know, it's not even your original story anymore…that happens to me in about every single story!) If my ideas were never to change during the story and it was purely what I planned at first…you guys would have some pretty different stories. Well, fanfiction's been down for a bit, so no new updates. (But, new note, now it's back after a bit over two days! Finally!) Sixth chapter up at some point I guess! Hope you enjoyed! **


	6. Assumptions

**Chapter Six- Assumptions**

When I woke up the next morning I almost thought I had dreamt the whole thing last night. Sakura was gone and I could just hear the commotion outside to say that everyone was already up. I pushed myself out of bed and dressed for the day.

I walked out into the dining room to find Sakura sat in a chair that made her face away from me. I came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She gave a visible jump at the sudden contact, but when she turned to see me, she blushed slightly and gave me a wry smile. I smirked and mentally confirmed that last night was not a dream.

I sat down at the table next to Sakura just as Akai walked out with a couple plates of food.

"Ah, you're up." Akai greeted. "You have perfect timing."

We ate in silence for a couple minutes before Akai brought up the subject of today's plan. Sakura looked to me with a questioning look, and I knew she had absolutely no idea seeing the outcomes of the past few days.

I shrugged my shoulders, "Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky today just walking around."

"I'm starting to question if it wasn't just a case of kids wanting to run away." Sakura added. "Maybe there is no kidnapper, just a bunch of kids that escaped before we could get here. For all we know we're here for nothing."

"I wouldn't be too sure." I interjected. "Seeing as there have been reports of a man around the times of the disappearances and there's also the proven fact that the kids taken we're not the kind to just up and run away. If there is one thing that seems to be true, it's that someone is behind all of this."

"Mew," the sudden sound rang out. We all gave a visible jump at the noise, and turned our attention to the window where the same cat as before occupied the sill.

Akai jumped up and quickly moved to the wall opposite of the cat. "Shoo!" He yelled. "We don't need you here!"

Sakura looked at the sight with a puzzled expression. I quickly whispered to her about Akai's allergies and promptly walked up to greet the cat. I scratched its head and heard a low purr hum through the feline's throat.

"I think he's just looking for some company after the daughter was kidnapped." Sakura stated.

"Probably," I agreed, "he sure has taken an interest to this place."

"A-hem," Akai interjected, "if you don't mind, while I'm perfectly fine with that thing taking an interest in you, I'd prefer it to stay away from this house."

I looked from Akai to the cat. I watched the cat thoughtfully as it stared past me, but I quickly pulled out of my trance and ushered the cat out the window. I walked back to the table and sat down. Akai followed my motion, and the conversation continued as if the moment never occurred.

'"'"'"'"

I strolled down the dirt path of the town at a leisurely rate. I listened to the talk of the people around me and went on as if I was just on a walk.

"Still searching?" A voice asked.

I whipped my head in the direction of the speaker. I almost immediately recognized who it belonged to. My assumption was correct as I saw, huddled up in a corner, the same cloaked woman from the shop. I cautiously approached her. She held out a hand and waved it in an encouraging manner to come closer. I stopped about three feet from the woman and gazed down at her curled up form.

"So, have you thought on what I had told you?" She asked curtly.

"Hn, a little hard with the riddle you left me with." I stated.

"Come now," she croaked, "you must have understood some of it, or do you need another push?"

I eyed her skeptically. "How can I even be sure you're not some crazy old bat whose senses are just out of date?"

"Because, boy," she replied, "you are simply ignorant."

My hand loomed dangerously close to my katana hilt as she spoke, but she quickly drew her hand in a gesture for me to hold my thought.

"However, I would begin to make haste if I were you." She stated. "Time is passing, and very soon the children will be lost forever."

"How do you even know all of this?" I questioned.

"I listen to the knowledge of the things most humans are yet to fully understand. They hold much wisdom, and one particular helper is trying to do so for you."

My temper rose slightly as the conversation continued. "I'm getting tired of listening to you drone on and on in riddles." I growled. "Why don't you just give it to me straight, alright?"

A low chuckle escaped the woman, and she raised her shrouded face to me. "What would you learn in life if all we teachers did was give you the answers?"

I glared at the woman. My patience ran extremely short at the moment.

"I will, however, give you one last bit of information." The lady said.

I kept my sharp gaze on the woman and waited for her to continue talking.

"As time goes on one grows older, and the fact of mortality looms in their faces. Some welcome the truth, but others seek ways around this undeniable fact. As the time of one's final hours draw closer, they may start to lose their composure, and what they are within will begin to become known. You, my boy, must realize these things, and spot them before they consume what hope there is to rescue those whose fates untimely draw nearer."

I opened my mouth to retort, but the woman was gone before I knew what had happened. I glanced around as I silently cursed at my sanity, but lost those thoughts as something came in contact with my hand. I looked to the side to see that Sakura stood by me and she grasped my hand lightly.

She gazed up at me and smiled half-heartedly. "Well, I didn't find a single thing. How did you do, Sasuke?"

"Hn, nothing," I grunted. I decided not to mention the woman to Sakura once again.

"Well, should we head back, then?" Sakura asked.

"Why?" I questioned. "It's only mid-afternoon."

Sakura looked at me like I was crazy. "Where did you slip off to?"

I glanced at my surrounding, the shadows stretched in an obvious indication that the sun loomed by the horizon. The streets had grown much less crowded, and the small amount of people who were out stared at me in slight apprehension.

"_Where did I slip off to is right." _I thought. _"I couldn't have been talking to the woman for that long." _

I brushed the thought aside for the time as Sakura tightened her hold on my hand. I curled my fingers around her own and returned her grip. We walked back to Akai's house like that in silence.

'"'"'"'"

I sat on the bed in our room that night. I had my arms around Sakura while she was curled up asleep on my lap. I thought back to the woman, her new words rang through my ears. They mixed with the old ones and tried to straighten themselves out. I still had almost no clue what her words meant.

I buried my face in Sakura's hair and started to consider laying back and falling asleep when something out the window caught my eye. I remained still and studied where it had disappeared. Just as I was about to excuse it as nothing something stirred again. The window was slightly cracked open and through that crack hopped the same cat that always showed up. It stared at me for a couple moments with its glowing eyes, and then began to walk across the floor.

The feline stopped at a small crack in the flooring and lightly pawed around it. I watched its strange behavior until it glanced back up at me. Its eyes stared into mine and I stared back. The cat made a quick turn and abruptly jumped out the window once more into the night.

I stared at the window for a couple moments in deep thought. A faint smirk broke across my face.

"Wise old bat." I whispered.

Finally, I pulled up the covers of the bed and laid myself down with Sakura next to me. I covered us up and quietly fell into a deep sleep.

'"'"'"'"

The next morning I was the first to wake up. I walked out into the dining room and found Akai peacefully reading a book. He looked up when I entered and gave me a small smile.

"First one to rise," he stated. "Would you like some breakfast?"

"Hn, no, I'm not hungry." I replied.

About two minutes of awkward silence later, Sakura came out. She smiled in greeting to Akai and playfully ran her fingers though my hair. She accepted Akai's offer for breakfast and he promptly left the dining room for the kitchen.

We both sat as we quietly chatted about what to do for today. I told her about the cat visiting, but didn't say any more than that as Akai walked in with a plate of food. He placed the food in front of Sakura and took his normal seat. Sakura eyed the food hungrily and picked up her fork. I saw as Akai watched her start moving towards the food.

In that next split second I had Akai pinned up against the wall with my forearm. Sakura dropped the fork in her shock and let it clatter noisily to the ground.

"Sasuke, what are you doing?" Sakura shrieked.

"Saving you," I clarified.

"What are you talking about?" Sakura questioned. "You're not making any sense!"

"Take a closer look at that plate, Sakura." I instructed.

Sakura did as she was told and looked down at the plate of food. She let out an audible gasp.

"Peach pit shavings."

"Next time you want to poison someone," I growled, "try to find something a little more subtle so a trained ninja won't pick it up."

"But…why would Akai try to poison me?" Sakura asked.

"Don't you get it, Sakura? It's because we're interfering with his plans. _He's the kidnapper_!"

**Dun, dun, duuuuun! How'd you take that one? Surprised? Already knew it? Kind of suspicious before hand? Well, I tried to drop a few subtle-ish hints. Though all the facts that could be complied in here will be spilled out in the next (and by the looks of it final) chapter! It really isn't that late, but I'm just exhausted! This had been one busy week! (Hence my not working-ness) Hopefully this has helped satisfy some of those needs, even if I just left you with some freakin' cliff hanger! Just stayed tuned, and I'll try to work as fast as I can! (Seeing as the weekend comes after tomorrow, and that'll give me some good time to work!) Stay tuned my avid readers! **

**Oh yeah, and for any wondering, a peach pit is, in fact, poisonous. If you were to shave it onto someone's food then that's it after some time. (Knowledge gained courtesy of my friend with a fascination in forensics and anything CSI related.) **


	7. Revelation

**Chapter Seven- Revelation**

Sakura stared from me to Akai, a surprised and confused look evident on her features.

"H-how can you tell?" Sakura asked. "I mean, I know he just tried to poison me, but how does that explain that he's the kidnapper?"

"Well, I definitely confirmed it once I noticed his little attempt to poison you," I explained, "but there were the other hints; starting with that cat."

Akai's eyes widened at my words. "That stupid cat; if there's one thing I'm allergic to, it's interfering felines!"

"I noticed the cat would always look at you when you were around. The lady at the house there said it belonged to her daughter." I explained.

"Why would it follow him, though?" Sakura asked.

"He probably smells like the daughter after he had grabbed her, and the cat may have remembered him for possibly even baiting it to leave him alone. Anything's possible, but that cat still gave you away." I clarified. "Though there's more. I also noticed that no disappearances took place while we were here. We were right to assume that the kidnapper knew, and since we were always around Akai, he never had a chance to do his work."

Akai loathingly glared at Sasuke. "Well, what's done is done, what's known is known."

"Not exactly," I interjected, "we still need to know where the kids are, and why you did this in the first place."

Akai sighed in an almost tired manner before he spoke. "While I'm well aware that I must look like some old man to you, you'd be surprised to learn just how true that statement is."

Sakura and I were silent as we waited for Akai to continue.

"My actual day of birth was more than one…no two…maybe even nearing three centuries ago. I come from a time where things like ninjas and hidden villages and powers these days were nothing more than folktale at best. Of course, I was an exception. I studied for several years in what is now the normal way of the shinobi, if not deeper. One day, I came across a myth about immortality."

Akai shifted uncomfortably under my grasp, but I refused to let him go.

"As you know, death is something that we all must face some day and there are those who wish to find ways around it. I am one of them. I delved deep into the realm of the unknown into the abyss that no human should wander upon. It took twenty precious years of my life, but finally, I discovered the key thing I needed in order to sustain my life." Akai explained.

"The life of a human, you mean?" I inquired.

"Yes," Akai hissed, "the life of a human. I could take any soul I wished for and extract it to keep my life from withering away."

"That's why you took the children?" Sakura asked. "Why so many, though? Why do you need four souls?"

"Alas, my dear, while I may have found the way to immortality, I need to sustain it with a steady supply of souls ever ten years or so. I grew old while I studied the arts and thusly, I have not the power to take down a full grown adult whom could equal the souls of two children or more." Akai clarified. "I prey on the souls of children because they are much easier to capture than an adult, simply put."

"So, where're the kids now?" I asked. "Or are your sick needs already fulfilled?"

"You're in luck." Akai grinned. "This is why I wished to poison you both today. The ritual was to take place tomorrow night, but those children, they scream and they cry and they beg for their lives. I couldn't let you two hear it, lest my plans be made known at the peak of my weakness."

"They're under the floorboards, aren't they?" I growled.

Akai looked at me with a shocked expression. "My, aren't we the clever ones today. How'd you find out?"

"That 'stupid cat' happens to be a big helper. He came into the house last night and pawed at a crack in the boards. At first I thought the cat was just messing around, but I thought of how the cat liked to follow people, and so I came to the conclusion that what it was digging for was its master; the daughter of the wealthy household." I explained.

Akai closed his eyes and drew in a large breath. "My, my, I really have gotten myself into quite a mess, haven't I?"

Akai's eyes snap open and he quickly pushed out of my grasp. I jumped back as he aimed a fist at my chest. My hand darted to my side, but I cursed as I realized my sword was still in the bedroom.

Sakura appeared to understand this, and she yelled out, "I'll get it, Sasuke! You just hold him off!"

Sakura dashed down the hall as I turned to face Akai. He suddenly ran at me, and I used the first jutsu that came to mind.

"Chidori stream," I yelled.

Akai looked shocked for a moment, but quickly did something that astounded me. He raised his arms to make a hand sign and his whole body became covered in a flowing stream of chakra. I stopped my attack and Akai appeared unscathed.

"You're a wind chakra type of person." I inquired.

"Yes, I didn't spend all my years in researching or immortality just sitting around with old books and scrolls. I trained just like the ordinary ninja."

The next moment Sakura ran out of the hallway with my katana in hand. She spotted me and immediately started to head in my direction.

"There's no need for that, is there?" Akai asked inquisitively as he raised his arm.

A sudden surge of chakra blasted from his body in the form of wind. It smacked into Sakura with a force great enough to send her back and slam her against the opposite wall with a painful crack.

"Sakura," I called and began to move towards her.

Akai, without my notice, leaped through the air and landed on my back. He forced me down to the ground and slammed my face into the wood.

"Must I repeat myself five times when I say 'there's no need for that'?" Akai chuckled darkly. "Kids these days that refuse to listen to their elders."

"Get off of him!" Sakura yelled as she raised the katana, and ran at us.

Akai watched her draw closer, and at the last second flipped around and kicked her right in the stomach, which sent her to the side and made her collapse on the ground. I let out an audible growl and took the moment Akai was preoccupied to grab his leg, flip him around and throw him against the wall.

I approached Akai with my retrieved katana in hand. I glared down at him while he tried to get back up.

"You've been living for far too long." I stated. "It's time we sent you to where you belong." I raised my sword to strike.

Akai suddenly threw his arms on the ground and sent out a blast of wind chakra. The move shattered the wood below us like it was glass and sent us plummeting into a hole. I glanced around as I picked myself up, we were in a cellar. Akai stood and laughed a little.

"A three hundred year old man fighting against a teenager; would you mind if I even the odds a little?"

I didn't understand his words until I looked at my surroundings again. In a corner, huddled together, were four children. They stared at me and Akai with wide eyes and visibly shivered with fear.

"I know all about you, Uchiha." Akai stated. "You're moves are powerful, but they take up space. Unless you want to harm the very children you were hired to protect, you have no choice but to give up."

I smirked at his words. "You're information seems to be a little out-of-date. You've no idea the kinds of things I can do with pinpoint accuracy. Trust me. The kids won't get in the way."

"Sasuke," Sakura's voice called from above, "are you alright!"

"No need to worry about me, but it'd be helpful if you'd snatch up these kids. The faster you do, the faster I can kill this relic." I replied.

"Got it," Sakura answered and jumped down into the pit.

I stared down Akai for a moment before I ran at him with my sword unsheathed. Akai sent another blast of wind chakra my way, but I kept going. He leaped out of the way just in time, but I managed to swerve and catch him on the back with the tip of my sword, which left a long gash from his shoulder blade to his waist. Akai howled in pain for a moment before he turned back to face me.

"You truly are a tough one, but your lightning jutsu are useless against my wind. So long as I can escape the rest of your sword attacks, I will be safe." Akai sneered.

I chuckled. "You think so, don't you?"

Akai looked at me skeptically. I noticed his eyes dart to the side for a moment. "Well, maybe I won't be able to dodge them all…but…"

Akai whipped around, my eyes widened slightly as his fell on Sakura, who was still trying to get the children out.

"Your girl can't dodge me either!" Akai exclaimed as he took out a hidden dagger and raised his arms to send a blast of chakra and the weapon at Sakura.

"Shit!" I cursed and ran as fast as I could.

Sakura stared wide eyed at Akai. He let out a maniacal laugh and blasted the chakra and dagger straight at Sakura. The wind reached her first, and slammed her against the wall. The dagger came next. I put on one last burst of speed.

Thunk!

Akai stared slightly surprised at the scene. Sakura was temporarily lost for words. I fell to the ground as I clutched my arm, the dagger protruding from it. Sakura fell to my side and finally found her voice to call to me. "Sasuke," she cried, "you didn't need to."

"So you wanted me to stand aside and watch you get stabbed?" I questioned.

Tears started to form in the corners of Sakura's eyes. She shook them away and started to move closer to me. "Just…let me heal you, quickly."

"I'll be fine for now." I replied. "You just get the last of those kids out."

"But what if it—" Sakura tried to retort.

I raised my hand to tell her to stop. "Enough, I'm not going to let something like this kill me. Just grab the kids and get out of here. I have a plan."

Sakura stared at me for a moment, but nodded her head and moved back to the children. I stood up and faced Akai.

"I'll give you some credit for being brave, but chivalry is dead, I know that better than anyone!" Akai leered.

"Hn, I'm sure you do." I replied.

I glanced to the side at Sakura. She just grabbed the last child, looked back at me, nodded, and jumped out of the hole.

"I'd get everyone out of the house, Sakura." I called. "This could get messy."

Sakura gave me a worried look, but I smirked in reassurance. She took all the children and led them outside.

"Now that we're alone," I stated, "I don't have to hold back!"

"I won't be killed so easily by a youngster!" Akai retorted.

I began to make some hand signs. "Let's end this quickly."

Akai sneered. "More lightning jutsu? I already told you that is useless against my wind!" He held out his arms to repel the oncoming attack.

I finished my hand signs, at that same moment Akai released a jet of wind chakra. I smirked. "I never said I only use lightning jutsu, and here's a lesson for you!" I drew in my breath.

Just as the wind reached me, I released a fireball jutsu. It collided with the wind and expanded to an enormous size. Akai's eyes widened in horror and he let out a deathly yell before the flames began to consume him.

"Lightning loses to wind, wind loses to fire. It's the simple fact of the elements." I stated.

I watched for a moment as Akai yelled and burned. Eventually, the yelling ceased, and the flames died down to embers. All that remained was a burnt form and a charred area. I jumped out of the cellar and, after I took one last look back, I left the house.

Sakura waited outside with the children, all of them clung to her in fear. Sakura smiled as I came out.

"You're safe!" She exclaimed. "What about Akai?"

"He's dead." I replied. "Now, let's get these kids back to their homes."

"Hold on there." Sakura interjected. "You're not going anywhere until I heal that arm of yours!"

I glanced down at the dagger; I had almost forgotten it was there. I pulled it out as Sakura approached me. She took the blade and examined it for a moment.

"I can't tell if it was laced with poison or not, so I'll have to be careful healing you." She stated.

"Come on, the guy tried to poison us with peach pits, I'm pretty sure that's a clear indication that he doesn't have any better poison than—" I stopped my words, Sakura's face began to cloud up, and all went blank.

'"'"'"'"

I slowly began to regain consciousness. My eyes drifted open and shut as they adjusted to the light. I managed to open them fully and glanced around. I was in a well lit room. I sat up. A throbbing pain went through my shoulder. I pulled aside my shirt, but I couldn't find any sign of the wound. At that moment, the door creaked open, and Sakura entered.

"Look who's finally up." Sakura smiled at me.

"I'm guessing I was wrong about the poison." I inquired.

"Yeah, but don't worry, I managed to extract it and make an antidote for any that may still remain in your system." Sakura clarified.

I smirked. "You've really grown, haven't you?"

"Do I look like I'm still a thirteen year old fangirl?"

I chuckled. "No, you're my eighteen year old girlfriend."

Sakura blushed slightly at the statement. "Oh, yeah, that happened…heh, what an interesting mission."

"So the kids are returned?" I asked.

"Yes, all accounted for."

"Where are we anyway?"

"We're at the house of that wealthy lady whose daughter we returned."

As if right on cue, the lady, the daughter, and, to my slight shock, the cat walked in.

"Oh, you're awake." The wife greeted. "I hope you're doing better."

"Yeah," I replied.

The daughter nervously approached Sakura and I. She kept her face down as she spoke to us. "T-thank you for saving me and the other kids; I can't really even imagine where I'd be right now if it wasn't for you ninja."

"All in a week's work," Sakura laughed. The girl raised her head higher to look at Sakura and smiled.

"Well, we had best let you rest up." The wife stated and started to head for the door with her daughter at her heels.

"I'll be right back, too." Sakura announced. "I need to go get that antidote so it'll kill the rest of that poison."

They all exited the room. I sighed, and then realized I wasn't alone yet. The cat sat on the floor beside me. It gazed up at me with wide eyes.

"You really are a clever cat." I sighed.

"Mew," the cat called and turned to leave.

A familiar laughter ran through my head as the cat left. I could just see the shrouded form of the woman in my mind.

"The wise old bat and the clever cat," I whispered, "two partners in crime."

**END**

**Completion! Dang this took a while. I probably worked for quite a few days on this thing! Well, I am proud to finally end it, and hopeful that another great idea will hit me soon! I may take some time to update my other stories, but if an idea comes I'll jump on it! Hope you people enjoyed this little journey. I had a lot of fun writing in Sasuke's POV. It's not hard, like I've heard people say, you just need to know how to release your inner sense of darkness! (Though his world doesn't seem so dark anymore.) Anyway, just a little header, but seeing as this was a little more adventure than romance, and I had so many people ask for romance in my poll, I can tell you that my next story will most probably be centered on romance! In any case, later! **

**Oh yeah, and for those who asked and haven't been able to pick up the pieces and clues, yes, Sasuke's goal was to restore the Uchiha clan. Well, look who gets to help! Heh…. **


	8. Home Sweet Home EPILOGUE

**Bond and Conquer Epilogue**

**Home Sweet Home**

To see the village come into my sights a few days after our ordeal with Akai was a great stress reliever. Sakura looked noticeably calmer as we came up to the village gates and passed through with welcomes from the gate guards.

"I am so relieved that mission is officially over and done with!" Sakura sighed as she stretched her arms into the air.

"Hn, yeah, I never imagined my first couple of weeks in the village would be this…odd." I agreed.

"Well, at least everything turned out for the better, right?" Sakura stated with a smile. "You remember what we agreed, correct?"

"What did we agree on, again?" I asked with a sarcastic smirk.

"Sasuke," Sakura huffed and playfully punched me in the arm. "Don't even joke about it! It means a lot to me!"

"Don't worry, don't worry." I assured her. "It means plenty to me as well."

Sakura giggled and we continued to walk down the road.

"HEY!"

We looked around when we heard the loud call. Something suddenly dropped down right in front of us, which caused Sakura to jump and grip onto me. I smirked at her reaction, and looked forward to be greeted by a loud mouth with a blonde, pointy hairdo.

"Sakura, Sasuke, so it's true!" Naruto cheered. "Sasuke, you're back, and you guys went on a mission together first thing! Oh, man, I wish I wasn't on my own mission at that time! It could have been just like old times!"

"Hey, Naruto, before we need new eardrums, why don't you talk like a normal person?" I suggested bitterly.

"Hmph, you haven't changed a bit, _Teme_." Naruto growled in a quieter voice.

"Hn, Dobe." I countered.

"Come on, you guys." Sakura huffed exasperatedly. "You have no idea what this mission did to me, I'm exhausted. Can't we just catch up later?"

"Oh, you guys need to tell me all about what happened! I wanna know everything! I want to imagine it like I was right there with you guys!" Naruto's voice rose again.

Sakura growled and knocked Naruto upside the head. "Hey, we asked you to quiet down once, don't make me start asking with _force_."

Naruto whimpered for a moment at the sudden impact. "Ow, Teme, is this what you dealt with the whole mission? You guys were together for over a week, how'd you survive?" Naruto ducked as another punch directed at his skull was loosed from the kunoichi.

I grabbed Sakura's arm and held her down. "It was easy after a few days…that is…after you've _really _gotten to know her again."

Sakura looked away and blushed. Naruto caught this and eyed us skeptically.

"Is there something…that I'm missing?" Naruto questioned.

"Besides a brain," I chuckled lightly.

"No, and shut up!" Naruto exclaimed. "I mean…something between you two that I'm not getting."

"You are such a…" Sakura sighed and shook her head disapprovingly.

"What? What am I missing? What's going on with you two?" Naruto became frantic.

"Nothing much," I shrugged, "we fought, we researched, we traveled, we kissed, we—"

"You guys _what_?" Naruto's eyes bulged at my words. "_Kissed_? When the hell did…you guys aren't…"

"Actually, we are, is that what you weren't picking up?" I clarified.

"Boy, Naruto, I knew you were dense to Hinata's feelings, but you couldn't even tell when your own two teammates liked each other?" Sakura giggled. We glanced at each other, I smirked, and she giggled even more.

"But…I…you guys…you're both…we need to double date!" Naruto suddenly announced as he pulled out of his confused state. "You two together, and me and Hinata, it'll be great!"

"Heh, sure, we can work that out later." Sakura answered. "Now, can we _please _head off so I can get home and rest?"

I wrapped my arm around Sakura's waist. "You heard her, Naruto, we'll see you later."

"Hmmm, yeah, sure," Naruto replied as we walked past him.

We walked over to Sakura's apartment and stood outside the door for a moment.

"Home, I never thought I'd be so glad to see it!" Sakura exclaimed as she searched for her keys.

"You go ahead and go to bed, I guess, the sun's already pretty much gone down." I instructed. "I'll go by the Hokage's office and give them the report."

"Okay, thanks." Sakura smiled, leaned over, and gave me a quick kiss before she slunk inside.

I stared off in almost a daze at the space she had just stood in as I smirked. I pulled out of my trance abruptly and left the vicinity for the Hokage's office.

'"'"'"'"

"Well, I can't say I'm all too surprised." Tsunade sighed after she heard my explanation. "We've had cases before where the client is actually the cause of all the problems. It's almost like a technique to disguise what they're really doing. Thankfully you two managed to figure everything out."

"Hn," I grunted tiredly, by then the sun had been down for a while, and I had started to feel the effects of the exhaustion.

Tsunade looked at my fatigued form. "Well, I had better dismiss you unless you want to fall asleep on the floor."

"Yeah, Sakura will be by tomorrow to help clarify anything I may have left out." I yawned as I stood and exited the office.

'"'"'"'"

I finally managed to reach my final destination. I sighed in relief as I thought that a good night's sleep was coming very soon. I walked through the door and, as I stumbled through the dark a little bit, found my way to the hallway. I ventured down the dark hall until I came to a halt in front of a door. I turned the knob and casually walked in. When I closed the door, I began a quick process of preparing myself for sleep and crawled into the waiting bed.

I sighed contentedly as my body collapsed onto the mattress. I reached my arms out and came in contact with something. The object I struck writhed around for a moment and faced me.

"Welcome home." Sakura's voice rang out in front of my chest.

"Hey." I replied sleepily.

All was silent for a moment between us.

"Hey, Sakura," I called out.

"Hm," Sakura hummed in response.

"You should know that if I stay here…I'm not going to stay your boyfriend for very long."

"I know," Sakura answered as her hands brushed over my front, "that's actually what I was hoping for."

I chuckled lightly. "Good night."

"Good night." Sakura replied.

Things fell silent between us once more, and for a couple moments I thought Sakura had fallen asleep already.

"Sasuke," Sakura breathed out suddenly.

"Hn," I grunted.

"Do you typically sleep in your boxers?"

"Well, I'm not on a mission, so I can slip back to what I typically do, so, yes." I answered.

It became silent for the umpteenth time.

"Sakura," I suddenly declared with a different, suggestive, tone of voice.

"Wait till we're married." Sakura stated and snuggled closer.

"Hn, I love you." I announced.

"I love you, too. You still have to wait."

"Awe," I huffed.

Sakura giggled for a moment, and about five minutes later, I could hear her steady breathing to indicate that she had officially fallen asleep. I wrapped my arms completely around her and buried my face in her pink hair. I quickly felt sleep creep upon me, as well, and slipped off to rest with a light smirk plastered to my face.

**OFFICIAL End**

**Now, and official, this story is **_**completed**_**. I fulfilled the wishes of those who wanted more, and I can only hope that my work is satisfactory to you all. Just in case it isn't…deal with it. I completely tied things up. Sasuke and Sakura are together, they're probably going to be married pretty soon, even Naruto's up in a relationship. Akai is gone for good, the little kids of the Land of Corals are safe from old men. (WTF…that just sounded like Orochimaru! Aah! XD) Ummm…man, I lost my train of thought…there will eventually be a sequel to "Truth or Dare: Matchmaker Edition" and I'll be continuing "Sleepover Extravaganza: All-out War" when I can get around to it! Ummm…later! **


End file.
